Fuel-briquet.



/ To all 'whom it may concern:

r -ATENT OFF WILL IAMKEmvETTnnD nnNsT 'r. KBVEBS, or'onnsolv oI'rY, NEVADA,

No Drawing.

Be it known that we, WILLIAM KENNETT and. ERNST T} KREBs, both citizens ofthe United States of America, and both residing at Carson City, in the county of Ormsby and State of Nevada, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Fuel-Briquets, of which the following isa specification.

7 Our: invention relates to improvements in fuel'briquets, and it consists in the composition containing the ingredients or materials hereinafter set forth. p

:In certain parts of the United States there are large deposits of oil shale. Attempts to make :use of these. oil shales as a fuel have been made, but failure has always resulted because of the fact that they have not proved commercially practical. Theprincipal reason for failure to make successful use of oil shales as a fuel liesin the fact that when pieces of the shale are burned in the manner and under the conditionsiin which'coalis burned, the shale instead of being reduced to an ash, remains in its original shapefand size. This prevents the consumption or the combustion of the carbonaceous matter contained' in the shale.-

Furthermore, the lumps of shale, since they cannot be reduced to ash, cannot be used inran ordinary furnace because of that very fact. Instead, therefore, of giving up its carbon content to produce heat, as is done with ordinary coal, and thereafter disintegrating soas to be readily removedrfrom the furnace, as, for instance, by rocking the grate bars,"the shale remainsin the same form in which it was introduced in' the furnace and soontends to clog up the latter, unless it is removed bodily.-

Now we have discovered that v by reducing an oil shale to a coarse powder and'then binding this powder together with a liquid or semi-liquid binder a briquet can bee-made which. will permit a greatericombustion of the-carbon content of the briquet and,;at the same time, will disintegrate so that it may be readilyremoved from the furnace.

A further object of our invention is to provide a 'b'riquet of the type described whose fuel value is greatly increased overv the combined fuel value of the original component parts, that is to sayof oil shaleand binder, due to better combustion.

As: is well known, crushed or fine: shale, unlike coal, has no adhesive or cohesive properties in its natural state when. ignited;

rUnn- R Q En v v Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 23, 19 18, Application filed February 13,191s.. 'Seria1No.216,995.

therefore, the mass When burning, chokes 11 itself by shutting out the circulation of air through the burning mass and results in very V imperfect combustion of the fuel content of the shale. Burning oil shale en masse does not consume all the so.-called'shale coke? besides there is "a large amount; of carbon left in the shale due to-imperfect combust on of the heavy 0115; because of non-oxidation due to the density or non-porous character of the shale. This unconsumed'carbon amounts to a considerable portionof the fuel value-of the shale, depending upon the amount. of so-oalled shale coke and heavy oils in the shale increasing as these are greater and decreasing as these are less'and r the light oils greater. Besidesoil shale when burned en. masse retainstits original shape and: bulk losing only in weightpin other Words, itdoes not disintegrate after being burned, except where a previous fracture existed it might separate. A fire box filled with oil shale in its original. state after being burned would still be filled with the burned undisintegrated shale, and shale thus burned does not give its full fuel value. PW hen it is s crushed to a coarse powder and'mixed witha hydrocarbon binder-such as a heavyf'uel oil preferably in which has/been dissolved a resinous material like rosin or other hydrocarbon like asphaltum and mixed While hot and compressed into briquets, it makesa superior fuel in heat units tothat whichis produced by lump shale and-binder when burned separately. When'suchaibriquet isburned it gradually disintegrates' asthe 1 shale particles "becomeignited through the agency of'the'binder, andwhen thisprocess] of disintegration takes place each particle ofshaile being ignited-the briquetfalls' dis integrated into aburningma'ss having the i ipower toinore-or less-completely consume its lnh'erent carbon, and 111 proport on as the carbon v1s consumed is the fuel value of the shale increased, and in that proportion-do the shale particles'become soft andashy."

The fin'enessto'whioh the shale-should be i 1 crushed depends upon the character of the shale, the tight and hard shal'es' being crushed to a finer and the soft andloosesha'les toga coarser meshg r In carrying out our processfwe take the oil shale and reduce it to a more or less coarse powder by anysuitable crushing'device; We prefer to use a liquid or semi liquid fuel as a binder, thus aiding more or temperatures in which less complete conibustion of all fiXedc oil, the best for the "purpose beingof .an

asphaltum base or even .asphaltum itself irliq t; difi re t:

which; swl quid, 1

of resinous material, such as rosin, which iSmi xed with. the' erushed shale inahe d condition- Wouldvary-1n accorfil 71th the particul' 'The proportions of the binder la rjbinder i1'sed, but as an 'instanceofan eflieient mixture, we may 'take one ton of shale, when reduced-tocoarse powder, and

"witheitniix fromfive to fifteen gallons of 'in g machine. may be used but we-prefer to I use: al machine of the hydraulic :type which for-ms briquets that readily "hold their shape intransportati'on and in-use with any fuel consuming. device.

ingianefficientbinder, any liquid .of semi- 1 liquid whicn wziliheld the shale dust to. 'getheriizn theformof abriquet may be used.

lelhavei foundthat water may be used effectively, although of course a binder con- .tai'ning hydrocarbon has. the double funccarbon content consumed; 'Furtherinore, it

tionl'of cementing the particles of shale dust into'the briquets and of adding to the fuel value .ofthebriquetse l briquet i such as... that. set forthin. the present,.-a?pplication hasa large part of-its disintegrates;-:so that itv may be readily removedifromythefurnace in the ordinary br que m ner. Tghe 'rresult is that large deposits qtei-l shale are-thusrlendered available for uselasfifuel which could not be-used. under ordinary, "circumstances. v

-We;;are.: :aware jthat-fuel briquets, broadly speaking, are gold; butj the ordinary fuel isimade for the purpose Ofutili'zing materi s ic as oa s y oal slap sawd st, andother m ri l of a like natu On theyother hands-the. quetl wh ch formsz e' su je t. of e pr nt in+ .vent en sdesig d t i make ava a l for -fuelwconsumpt ongjo lj shalesl which hereto:

fore hayefbeen. practically worthless as fuel. The oil shales'when burned in their natural statejretaina portion-of: their carbon contentzunconsuined and, as stated above, they do;not'-disintegrate.- By forniinga briquet of crushed shale a greater combustion of the carbon content-' isassured-' and the "disan; 10 t is Pa i nt m y be ne t v ceilts eahhibsz dr ameasements: amt-a5,

v arbour... and Shale 9911 th m-1Q when v rne 1 For. this blnder we prefer to use a heavy crude has been dissolved, whichever binder is used, a-small'quantity 'materiaLi 1 integration (if it to be 1 3 01111 the e d ear mye By our rocess we "cl'im toinalfe'use of a v hitherto useless fuel and create a useful one byiising' the briqueting process with a spe V cial binder to bind a raw materialentirely new to'the briqueting industry which is first reduced to a-:coa1 s.e-"powder to develop its full fuel value when again bound into a mass in the form of a briquet, thus producing an entirely new and different: product which, 1 when burned, ;wi1-1;d ve1o inoreheat units than its component parts will developavhen the'sesanae component parts areburned sep: arately. I In this Way we produce a fuel far cheaper in the Western' States :of the United States-than any other.

- i Itinust be-jund'erstoo'd that the oil shale can-[be bound -ith -good-,results without using a resinous material,- and it is our 111 tention to use the binderwith or without such resinous:-Inateri'alfif, for. anyireason, this resinous material s noteasj ly obtalned ori-tspirice prohibitive: Itiis, however, de-

sirable to usethisresin'ous material. to obtain thebest results. e g It inust-alsoibe understood that if other '1naterials,fsuch as coal. slack, coal or coke dust, peeti oil-sawdust. .canl behad at a small cost, We intendfto' incorporateitheni with the c ru'shed-oi'l' shale and compress them into briqueos which Willu ma-ke Very desirable fuel. 7

'v NVe claim v w 1. A fuel briquetrcoinprising albody pore" tion of 'comminuted' oil shale, and a binder forfholding' the shale together. 7 Y

2. A fuel briquet comprising "abody portionconsis'tingrofoil shale in thei form of a coarse powder; .the particles of "the shale being held together with a liquid or semi,- liquid binder.-:

,- Afuelbriqriet.consistingofa bodypgra tion; of oil shale: in powdered form :held together: by aibinder containing carbonaceous matter. f.. I H 't. Afuel'briquet Which consists of'a body portion of coarsely. powdered 'oil' shale. rock and :a liquid or semi-liquid binder; containmg; zcombustible. hydrocarbons. I

. f5; A fuel briquet. which, consists of portion iof-z crushed? oil shale and, a; heavy semi-liquids. binder-f of. carbonaceous: inatt'er 111- which; has been; dissolved: anresinous 

